USA - The US Secret Service will be provided with additional military support capabilities for presidential and vice presidential candidates ahead of the upcoming election in November, representatives of the agency and the Pentagon announced on Thursday. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has directed US Northern Command to plan and provide additional support and resources for the Secret Service at various locations during the election, according to Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh. The representative noted that this support had been granted following the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. Following the incident, the Secret Service said it was “ashamed” of the security lapse that allowed the incident to occur.

GERMANY - In the run-up to tomorrow’s state elections in the Eastern part of Germany, the mainstream globalist parties and the media are aligned in a panic over the population’s preference for the right wing AfD party, endlessly plotting ways to keep them out of power. It’s been 35 years since the Berlin Wall fell, and on the east side of the old ‘iron curtain’, the AfD is surging. Politico reported: “Ahead of three state elections across eastern Germany this September — including in Saxony and Thuringia this Sunday — the once-fringe party is polling first or close to first in all contests. That success is due to the party’s increasingly deep roots in small towns across the east like Großschirma, where in municipal and European Parliament elections in June, the AfD won around half the local vote, illustrating the extent to which it has become the dominant political power in the area.

NETHERLANDS - Ukraine was given approval by the Netherlands on Thursday to use its F-16 fighter jets to strike deep inside Russian territory. The American-made F-16 is an iconic fighter jet that’s been the front-line combat plane of choice for the NATO alliance and numerous air forces around the world for 50 years. Newsweek reports permission to use Western weapons on Russian soil is a key sticking point among some of Ukraine’s supporters, with Kyiv claiming this could turn the tide in the conflict. The statements from the Netherlands indicate Ukraine’s other allies may soon follow suit, loosening restrictions on its activities deeper within Russia.

USA - President Joe Biden responded to the news that Hersh Goldberg-Polin was one of the bodies that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had discovered in Gaza, and stated “Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes.” Biden issued a statement that it was “now confirmed that one of the hostages” killed by Hamas terrorists was Goldberg-Polin. Biden described Goldberg-Polin’s death as “tragic” and “reprehensible.” “Earlier today, in a tunnel under the city of Rafah, Israeli forces recovered six bodies of hostages held by Hamas,” Biden said in a statement. “We have now confirmed that one of the hostages killed by these vicious Hamas terrorists was an American citizen, Hersh Goldberg-Polin.” Biden added that he was “devastated and outraged. Make no mistake. Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes."

ISRAEL - The Israeli military has concentrated its attention on terrorist cells in the West Bank in the last several days, taking on Hamas in the town of Jenin and in the Jordan Valley. There has long been a Hamas presence in the Palestinian towns of the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority, which is run by the rival Fatah movement, has at times acted against Hamas, but often turns a blind eye or lacks the capacity to take effective action against increasingly well-armed cells. The West Bank has been relatively quiet, compared to Gaza and the northern border, but Israel is concerned that it could become the next major front in the ongoing war.

USA - Poor consumers are running out of money. Dollar General suffered a record one-day drop as the company’s stock tanked amid a warning about the struggling US consumer. The Thursday trading day marked a slaughter for Dollar General, seeing the stock crater by an eye-watering 32.01 percent, according to Barron’s. It was the company’s worst one-day decline in history, smashing the previous record drop of 19.5 percent set on June 1, 2023. Dollar General has been publicly traded since 2009. Dollar General is no small player. According to the Financial Times, the Tennessee-based company has over 20,000 locations across all but two states. The retailer’s painful decline hints at larger troubles with consumers and the American economy. Dollar General’s core customers are typically from households that bring in less than $35,000. Compounding the problems for Dollar General are societal issues all stores are now facing: chiefly, shoplifting and other forms of theft.

POLAND - Poland’s budget for 2025 includes record military spending of $48.7 billion, officials said Wednesday, as the Ukraine war continues to ramp security concerns across Europe. Poland is already NATO’s biggest defence spender, with plans to outlay 4.1 percent of GDP in 2024. However, the Polish government is considering increasing the defence budget again by 0.6 percentage points further next year, AP reports Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski said the unprecedented defence spending proposal would constitute 4.7 percent of gross domestic product, compared to 4.1 percent this year, and follows calls made by former President Donald Trump for NATO members to spend more on defense and rely less on the US to come to their aid.

RUSSIA - Russia’s warning this week of “World War III” as it grapples with Ukrainian attacks deep into the country has survivalists and preppers on high alert for nuclear war spreading to the United States. “It is a realistic threat, especially with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s reputation, rule, and predicament,” a just-issued warning to members of the national network of Fortitude Ranch members said. On its “Collapse Survivor” app, it added, “THIS IS A REAL THREAT Likelihood of Battlefield Nuclear Weapons use by Russia in Europe is High, Escalation to Strategic Nuclear Exchange unlikely but possible.” Fortitude Ranch founder Drew Miller told Secrets that the alert followed a report on Tuesday from Reuters quoting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warning about Western nations and the United States helping Ukrainian attacks on Russia.

USA - While the mainstream media focuses our attention on the upcoming election, the stage is being set for the unthinkable. If everyone truly understood where current events were taking us, there would be massive protests in every major city right now. The comfortable lifestyles that so many of us take for granted are about to be shattered. The US could soon find itself involved in several major wars simultaneously, and we are definitely not prepared for such a scenario.

CHINA - Washington must stop its collaboration with the Taiwanese military and respect China’s core interests, Chinese Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia has said, calling the Taiwan issue vital for Beijing. During a meeting with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Beijing on Thursday, Zhang demanded that the US “stop its military collusion with Taiwan, stop arming it, and stop spreading false rumors related to it,” according to a transcript published by the Chinese Defense Ministry. Zhang added that the issue of Taiwan, which is seen by Beijing as an inalienable part of China, is “the political foundation of China-US relations” and the “number one red line that must not be crossed.”

UK - Sir Keir Starmer today denied he is 'reversing Brexit' as he used a visit to Berlin to push his promised 'reset' of Britain's relations with the European Union. The PM, speaking at a press conference alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, outlined his ambition for a new UK-Germany treaty. He said the 'wide-ranging pact', which Downing Street hopes will be signed by the end of this year, was part of a 'wider reset' of the UK's links with European capitals. But the Labour premier, who once backed a second EU referendum, added that 'does not mean reversing Brexit' or rejoining the EU's single market or customs union. Sir Keir was holding talks with senior German politicians and business leaders today before travelling to Paris for a summit with French President Emmanuel Macron tomorrow. Sir Keir added that a new defence agreement would be 'at the heart' of the UK's relationship with Germany, as he hailed the two countries' 'unyielding' support for Ukraine.

UK - Record numbers of migrants living in Britain are not working, costing taxpayers an estimated £8 billion, a report warns today. Official figures show that 1,689,000 non-UK nationals are either unemployed or classed as economically inactive because they are not looking for a job. It covers people aged between 16 and 64 who were born overseas and have the right to live in the UK, but excludes students and asylum-seekers. Researchers at the Centre for Migration Control think-tank put the cost to taxpayers of record levels of migrant worklessness at as much as £8.5 billion a year. They calculate that the total amount of public money attributed to workless migrants – including health, education, transport and housing costs, as well as welfare – could be as high as £20.3 billion. Robert Bates, research director at the Centre for Migration Control, said last night: 'For all the talk of a fiscal 'black hole', the Government seem to be missing the glaringly obvious fact that mass migration is causing economic pandemonium.

USA - How many times have you heard the mainstream media tell you that the economy is doing just great in recent months? Personally, I have seen the word “booming” used over and over again to describe the economy, and it makes me sick. The level of gaslighting that we are witnessing right now is off the charts. Millions of Americans are sleeping in their vehicles, thousands of businesses are failing all over the nation, and most of the country now believes that the American Dream is no longer attainable. If this is what a “booming” economy feels like, I would hate to see what would happen during a “recession”.

MIDDLE EAST - The multi-faceted nature of what started as an Israel-Gaza conflict makes it chaotic, unpredictable, and likely to spread. With each passing day, the Middle East inches closer to a full-scale, devastating war. Multiple regional powers are involved, each being pushed by its own internal and external pressures further away from peace. The situation intensified following the events of October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched an attack on Israel, prompting a fierce response from the Israeli military. Palestinians continue to insist on a return to the 1967 borders and the establishment of their own state with East Jerusalem as its capital, while Israel refuses to make these concessions. Tensions remain high, severely complicating any attempts at a diplomatic resolution.

USA - It’s surprising how little attention we pay to the fact that the United States is still heavily involved in conflicts in Syria and Iraq. Even though the headlines have mostly moved on, there are still about 900 US troops stationed in Syria and another 2,500 in Iraq, carrying out a mission that seems increasingly unending. These soldiers are spread across vast swathes of the region from the Al-Tanf garrison in southeastern Syria to Al-Asad airbase in Iraq’s Anbar province. They regularly face attacks from Iran-backed militias, and these incidents have become almost routine. These forces remain integral to Operation Inherent Resolve, the mission launched in 2014 aimed at dismantling ISIS. Although the operation has largely succeeded in stripping ISIS of its territorial holdings, the broader region remains a tinderbox.